


Detour in Downton

by merryghoul



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Downton Abbey
Genre: 18th Century, 1920s, 1960s, Background Relationships, Bars and Pubs, Gen, Oxford, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-12
Updated: 2016-04-12
Packaged: 2018-06-01 21:03:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6536239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merryghoul/pseuds/merryghoul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stranded in Downton, River Song walks into the Grantham Arms, meets the former Daisy Mason, and makes Daisy's dreams come true.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Detour in Downton

**Author's Note:**

> Set after River becomes a professor in Doctor Who. Set post-series for Downton Abbey, using speculation that Daisy leaves Downton Abbey, moves into Mr Mason's farm, and eventually marries Andy Parker. Background Andy/Daisy.
> 
> For [](http://intoabar.dreamwidth.org/profile)[](http://intoabar.dreamwidth.org/)**intoabar** 2016.
> 
> And yes, I know, Daisy's name in the prompt doesn't match her AO3 tag here, but it's what I've gotten in my assignment.

When River looked up at a painted wooded signpost reading "Ripon 9 Miles" and "Thirsk 6 Miles," she knew she was nowhere near Oxfordshire in the 1960s. Somehow she had ended up in the village of Downton.

River accepted a job to teach archaeology at the University of Oxford in 1962. She set the coordinates correctly on her vortex manipulator before she left her last archaeology excavation. She checked her vortex manipulator again. The display was scrambled. River sighed. Her vortex manipulator was malfunctioning. She needed a place to fix it. Under a signpost was not the most ideal of places to fix a vortex manipulator.

River could infer several things about what time she had been accidentally sent to in Downton. Downton was in the Vale of York, and the Vale tended to be warmer than other parts of Yorkshire. River looked down a street in Downton. Men were wearing knickers, fedoras, and homburgs while women were wearing various types of bob cuts, shift dresses, and cloche hats. River saw a Ford Model T driving through the village. She knew she somehow ended up in the middle of summer in the 1920s.

River's vortex manipulator's monitor flickered on and off. It was still malfunctioning. Giving up with a loud sigh, she pulled out her perfume out of her bag. With one spray, she changed her archaeology clothes for some far-off planet somewhere in Mutter's Spiral to a cloche hat, a shift dress, and a pair of heels. She took off her vortex manipulator, put it in her bag, and walked to the town.

A faded bar sign with a crown on top of impaled arms and the words "GRANTHAM ARMS" appeared in River's sights. River passed by the building's windows and noticed that the Grantham Arms was a pub. She decided to go inside of it, hoping to find a table to work on her vortex manipulator.

The Grantham Arms was crowded, much to River's disappointment. Every stool was filled at the bar. River decided to stay anyway. There was another pub in Downton, the Dog and Duck, but she was afraid it would be crowded just like the Grantham Arms. She also noticed the Grantham Arms served Otard's Brandy. She didn't know if the Dog and Duck served Otard's. River would have to steal a shot of the brandy while she was in the Grantham Arms, but she was confident no one would miss her enough to want her thrown in jail.

River took out her psychic paper and waited at the bar until the bartender went over to her. The bartender saw on the psychic paper that the pub's owner promised her a glass of Otard's Brandy on the house. The bartender poured out a glass of brandy and handed it to River.

River walked around, looking in vain for a table to fix her vortex manipulator. She passed by a brown-haired woman with a bob cut. The brown-haired woman was sitting at a table by herself. "This pub's not always this busy,” the woman said. “Guess it's the heat. Are you looking for a place to sit down?"

"Are you holding that table for someone?"

The woman shook her head. "It's my day off from my farm. I came here by myself."

"That's good that you're alone. I need to work on something." River pulled a chair and sat in front of the woman. She extended her hand. "I'm..." River hesitated. River wasn't a name most people knew of in the 1920s. "Mel..." Same with Melody. "Melva."

The woman shook her hand. "Daisy."

"Where are you from, Melva?"

"A place a long, long way from here. It's probably the easiest way for me to put it."

"And where were you going?"

"I was on my way to Oxford."

"Did you miss your train?"

"You could say that, in a way." River lifted her bag. "Do you mind if I put my bag on the table?"

Daisy shook her head. "No."

River took another sip of the brandy. She started fixing the vortex manipulator in her bag with her sonic trowel.

Daisy heard River's sonic trowel. "What's that noise?"

"Must be a car outside," River lied.

"Oh. That makes sense." Daisy looked outside the window. "I've never been to Oxford. I'd like to go sometime."

River looked up at Daisy. She was intrigued by Daisy's last statement. "Would you like to go? I could take you with me."

"Oh no. I've got to stay here. I can't leave on short notice. My husband and my father-in-law would be worried about me. My father-in-law's from my first marriage, but he cares for me."

River went back to her bag. "You're married? I have a husband too, sometimes. It's complicated."

"Yes, Melva. I just got married a month ago."

"Congratulations!"

"That's why I can't go to Oxford with you."

"That's not a problem. Just give me a few minutes to get out of my bag." River raised her glass of brandy to Daisy, her left hand still holding her vortex manipulator. "Have you ever had this? It's Otard's Brandy. Direct from France. Very fruity taste. You'll love it."

"No."

"Ask for it the next time you come here." River winked at Daisy. "You won't regret it."

Daisy sighed. "Don't mind me. I'm remembering when I went to London a few years ago. I was working as an assistant cook in Downton Abbey. The whole household went on holiday up there. I went to some of the museums in London. I saw the Wallace Collection. Sometimes I think about it when I'm on the farm."

The vortex manipulator came on again. River grinned.

"What are you grinning about?" Daisy asked.

"My transportation's working again.'

"Your transportation? I thought you said you were going down to Oxford by train."

"There's one thing to know about me, Daisy. I lie. But right now, I'm about to tell you the truth. Well, mostly the truth. I still need to keep some secrets. It's for the good of the universe.”"

"The universe?"

"My name is actually...well, I'm known as River Song. It's complicated."

"Like your marriage?"

River nodded. "I know the name sounds out of place here, which is why I lied about my name."

Daisy nodded. "I never heard of anyone called 'River' before."

"I'm a time travelling archaeologist and professor from the future."

"You sound mad."

"I know, but hear me out. I usually travel alone, but sometimes I have companions. And I'd like for you to be my companion. At least for a little while."

"Companion?"

"Sometimes it's much more fun to travel the universe with someone." River put on her vortex manipulator while her hands were still in the bag. She finished off the brandy. "You see this?" She twisted her wrist back and forth. "It's what I call a vortex manipulator. It's what I've been repairing while we've been talking. It allows me to travel time and space. I was planning to go straight to Oxford University in the future, but I can take you to meet a painter who is in the Wallace Collection first."

"Who else could I meet in the Wallace Collection? I think I met everybody I could meet walking around there."

"No, you've misunderstood me. I can take you to meet someone who has paintings in the collection. Do you know Thomas Lawrence? He has drawn me in pastels before."

Daisy gasped. "That's impossible."

River shook her head and smiled. "Not if you're a time traveller. So, do you trust me? Are you coming with me to meet Thomas Lawrence or not?"

Daisy nodded. "Yes, River."

"I'd rather use my vortex manipulator outside. Don't want to accidentally blow up this pub. Let's go."

River and Daisy left the Grantham Arms. River set her vortex manipulator to London, 1787. She grabbed Daisy's right hand. The two of them were gone in seconds. No one in Downton noticed they were gone.

The two arrived in front of 41 Jermyn Street. River pulled out her perfume and changed into a chemise dress. "Hold still," she said, aiming the perfume at Daisy.

Daisy closed her eyes. River's perfume changed her shift dress into a chemise dress and removed everything else but her vortex manipulator. Daisy looked at her newly generated dress in wonder. "How'd your bottle do that?"

"It's a secret, sweetie," River said, returning the perfume to her bag. River walked up to the door and knocked on its knocker. A man answered the door.

"Good afternoon, Mr Lawrence," River said to the man.

"You mean Thomas Lawrence?" Daisy asked.

River nodded. "You remember me? Miss Melony Malone? This is my friend, Daisy."

"But you said your name was--"

River hushed Daisy and winked at her. "Remember, sweetie," she whispered. "I lie. A lot."

 

Daisy and River spent an afternoon talking to Thomas Lawrence and viewing the paintings in progress in his studio. Then, after a era-appropriate change of dresses, they went to the University of Oxford in 1962, where River spent a day showing Daisy parts of the newly formed Institute of Archaeology and St Hugh's College, where River would do the majority of her lectures. And since River was a professor at Oxford, no one questioned Daisy's presence or their abilities to freely tour the Institute or St Hugh's College.

As they were walking around St Hugh's College's garden, River suddenly stopped Daisy with her hand. "I have the perfect gift for you."

Daisy beamed. "You have a gift for me?"

"We've got to pick it up about a mile south from here. But you know we don't have to walk there." She typed in the coordinates that would take them a mile south of St Hugh's College. She held out her hand to Daisy. "You know what to do."

Daisy took her hand. The two appeared inside Blackwell's, a book store. Both stood near the entrance. Using her vortex manipulator, River went to the section where the art books were located. She picked up a book about Thomas Lawrence from the 1950s. She then put on her hallucinogenic lipstick and teleported back to the sales counter.

Daisy blinked when she saw the Thomas Lawrence book in River's hands. "Where'd you get that book?"

River winked and showed Daisy the vortex manipulator again. "I move fast."

The two headed for the sales counter, where the cashier rang up the price of the book for River. "Thanks, sweetie," River told the sales person, "but I'd like this book free of charge." She kissed the sales person on the cheek, stunning him and making him forget that River and Daisy were in front of him.

"Was that your husband?" Daisy asked as the two walked out of Blackwell's.

"Oh, no. He's much more clever than that clerk. Or so he thinks."

"Is this book stolen?"

River looked at her vortex manipulator. "Yes, but nobody here has to know that. What day did we meet at the pub? I need to input that in my vortex manipulator so I can take you home."

 

River returned Daisy and the stolen Thomas Lawrence book to Daisy's farm in Downton back in 1926 later that afternoon. Andy noticed the flashes River's vortex manipulator made when River appeared and disappeared from the farm. He ran out of the house he was in. "Daisy, you're back," he said. “What was that?”

River had instructed Daisy to lie to Andy once she arrived at the farm, and Daisy obeyed. "It's the car I was in. I met a friend at the Grantham Arms. We went shopping in York for the afternoon. That's where I got this book."

"Can I read it?"

Daisy shook her head. "My friend said it was a spoiler."


End file.
